UPDATE (February 24th, 2013):  Micah just returned from C.R.O.S.S.’s first trip to South Sudan! Please see today’s survivalblog posting for a detailed update on how God sovereignly guided and blessed the trip to the border areas of South Sudan! We also have a new Facebook page with pictures, and will be constantly adding pictures, video and comments for the next couple of weeks to share with you the experiences and praises from the first trip! This way you can share in our experiences and learn more about the C.R.O.S.S. staff, approach and what exactly we are doing in South Sudan!

Also, Email us for an early 2013 C.R.O.S.S. Ministries update or to be added to our mailing list (occasional emails only, and we will NOT share, give or otherwise let people get a hold of your email address!)

C.R.O.S.S. Ministries wants to let you know more about what we think you will find to be an exciting and unique part of our ministry in South Sudan.

“Water, Fire, Security.”

C.R.O.S.S. plans on helping with these three areas as avenues or means to assist in presenting and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. In some of the northern regions of South Sudan villagers express these three needs at or near the top of their list of things they want and need help with. Access and availability to clean drinking water, assistance in preventing and training to combat wildfires, and physical security from bandits, northern mercenaries, and criminals. It is this last point, security, where C.R.O.S.S. stands out as different.

A missionary I respect once said, “Without security, you have nothing.” In large part this is true. Protection of human life is also one of the most basic human rights that stems from the very early commands God gave us as mankind and protecting life is honorable and consistent with God’s nature.

It is with this in mind that C.R.O.S.S. believes in addition to more traditional humanitarian endeavors, in training the people of South Sudan to lawfully protect human life. We have an effective model from elsewhere in Africa of working with local governments to establish a legal means of protecting human lives, where before there was none. This model is consistent with and follows all local laws elsewhere in Africa and is adaptable to do the same in South Sudan. NOTE from February 2013: After meeting with government officials in South Sudan, they like the model and are very favorable to working towards implementing it in South Sudan!